Everybody Loves Ty Lee
by Lunatique
Summary: No seriously, everybody. Ty Lee/Everyone, in alphabetical order. Newest update: Azula again, this time slashy.
1. Aang: Airborne with the Avatar

Hello! This is a series of fics about Ty Lee interacting with other characters in the _Avatar_ world. The goal is to write her in scenes with every named character who was living at the end of the show. At first I was going to make all the stories romantic in nature, but soon realized I did not have the intestinal fortitude. I'll try to write some romance or sexual tension into the stories with many of the younger human cast, but a significant number of the stories will be gen.

The stories will be in alphabetical order of the other character's name, so Ty Lee/Aang is up first. I was going to write this for the Avatar 500 prompt "Sky," but at 400 words in and nowhere near done it became quickly obvious that it was not meant for the Avatar 500. I'll keep using the prompts to write these Ty Lee stories and even submit entries when I can make the word limit. It's a fun side project while I procrastinate on _Shadow of the Dragon King_ and other stories in the ideas pipeline. I give my thanks to amanda91 for giving me the idea at her LiveJournal!

And so I give you...

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><p><strong>Everybody Loves Ty Lee<strong>

**1. Airborne**

**Second year of Firelord Zuko's reign, third moon of Earth** (late spring)

"Aaaaaang!"

The call is a shriek of fear, a shout of joy, a battle-cry that cuts across the dawn. Aang rides the wind through the acrid smoke from the rebel airship, maneuvering himself to its port side just in time to catch her in her blurring pink flight from a broken window of the control room. There is a light thump of impact and a dip the glider's flight as she lands on his back, crouched like a cat and with perfect poise as though this were a planned move and not a headlong jump from a burning airship. There is the vague sense that there should be cheers and applause for this daring feat so high in the air.

Instead of cheers, there are the panicked shouts of renegade soldiers as the airship to their right that Aang and Ty Lee destroyed between them lists and threatens to go down. And instead af applause there is the rush of feet on metal from the airship to their left, firebenders running out onto the platform suspended below the gondola. The rebel firebenders take aim, and the morning air is momentarily cold as they suck in the heat of the sun around them.

Then fire and heat fill the air, a sheet of blinding red and gold hurtling toward the glider and its passenders.

"Hang on!" Aang shouts to the girl on his back. He circles down to evade, creating a rush of wind under the wings of his craft. Ty Lee giggles and takes his warning literally, dropping flat onto her stomach and wrapping her arms and legs around him. Her laughter rings clear across the golden sky as the flames follow them down, even as she hangs upside-down in the air clutching Aang and the glider. Perhaps the blood has rushed to his head due to the inverted position, for he looks slightly pink.

He is quick, as always, but the extra weight slows him down and the heat of the flames is intense. The tip of his right wing which brushed too close catches fire, and though Aang quickly blows out the flames with a breath of wind the glider starts a crazy clockwise spin which he just manages to stabilize as he circles back up to the ship. Bursts of fire rush by on all sides, threatening to set more than the glider alight.

As they are back in horizontal position, Ty Lee lets go of Aang and eases herself into a crouch despite the turbulence. She is no longer laughing, not even smiling as she regards the firebenders lined along the platform. Just as they close in again, and as the enemies take aim again she tenses, then drops from the glider onto one of the catwalks that extend from the sides of the platform, practically on top of the firebender who had aimed at her. A few quick jabs later the soldier tumbles limply to the platform, barely able to hold on against the winds that rip at them at this altitude.

Aang, buoyed by the loss of extra weight, spins up to aim a hand at the engine house emblazoned with the phoenix displayed. More flames come at him, and though he disperses them with a gust of air, his counterattacks hit the airship's superstructure rather than platform beneath its curve.

Then Ty Lee cartwheels down the perilously narrow catwalk onto the platform proper to pounce on the rebels. She jabs a pressure point here and vaults from the slumping body there, then sweeps out a foot as she lands. The air is thick with smoke and fire, not just from the firebenders but from the flaming airship she has just escaped, its streamlined form spewing black smoke as it tilts precariously off the starboard side.

"Now!" She shouts, and Aang, now free from the distracting attacks, swerves around to face the engine house again. He takes a deep breath that puffs his chest out, then blows out a concentrated gust of wind that slams into the propeller blades and brings them to a screeching halt.

The ship veers sharply to the right as the port engine keeps laboring, the halt too sudden for the engineers to compensate. The ship's horned prow rams into the burning, listing ship on its right and the groaning grind of metal on metal fills the air. Aang then sweeps a hand out, setting the engine house on fire for good measure.

As both ships start going down, Aang swoops down level with the platform under the gondola where Ty Lee dodges a few flame attacks, though by and large the rebels are too busy trying to hold on as the ship reels from impact and from its own death throes.

"Come on!" He shouts, and Ty Lee grins and leaps, flipping through the air over the head of the nearest firebender to land on the catwalk. She takes off running down the strip of metal without skipping a beat. But just as she's about to take the jump the ship tilts sideways, threatening to spill her over.

"Whoa!" She jumps clear anyway but her balance is off, and she falls short of the glider. Then she jerks to a stop, and she looks up at Aang and his firm grip on her arm. "Wow, thanks!"

The relief is short-lived, however, as the glider tilts and starts dropping down to the ship and the cliffs below, following the falling ships. Aang, his face set with determination, spins the craft one-handed to fold it back to a staff, wraps an arm tight around the girl, and falls like a stone from the sky. Ty Lee's scream as she clings to him is ecstatic or terrified, or both.

As the ground looms nearer with terrifying speed he puts his feet together and creates a burst of air _behind_ them to speed their headlong flight down. Ty Lee holds him in a near chokehold, and teardrops from her watering eyes fly up to dance sparkling in the sunlight before they, too, succumb to gravity and scatter on their way down to earth.

They shoot past the falling ships and then, as the cliffside below them looms large, Aang thrusts his hand down to create a gust of air beneath them that gently buoys them up before they fall again. He flips over to get his feet below him, and with Ty Lee in his arms, lands safely on top of the cliff.

Immediately a shadow falls over them, growing larger and larger. Quickly dropping Ty Lee, who lands in a crouch next to him, Aang spreads and then sweeps his arms upward. The first of the falling airships rocks, its fall slowing in the updrift, which Aang maneuvers until the ship lands with a _boom_ and a reverberating impact that sends dust flying into the air. The second ship is already falling toward the sea, and he stretches a hand out at the water-

And it shoots up as though from a giant splash although the ship has not hit the water yet, catching the airship in its wave and then instantly freezing to hold it immobile and safe well above sea level. The frozen pillar glitters with eery beauty in the warm spring sun.

"Wow, you've become really quick at waterbending, Aang," Ty Lee rises from her crouch as Aang lowers his hands.

"That wasn't me," Aang says quietly as streams of water rise from the sea, putting out the fires on the trapped airship. A hearty bellow echoes over the sea. Aang raises a hand gladly at the white and striped mass streaking to him over the water, and at the blue-clad figure that moves on top of it as though in a graceful dance. He turns back to the airship on the cliff, the tip of his staff resting on the ground and his mouth set in a straight, firm line.

Aang and Ty Lee both crouch as the boarding ramp of the gondola opens. Suddenly the water rises in a wall of blue and foam straight over the cliff as Aang and Ty Lee watch, awed, and arcs to the gondola where it slams over the boarding ramp and freezes into a thick sheet of ice.

And then there is a wind that rustles the grass as the flying white beast is level with them and the resounding bellow, unmistakeably in greeting, almost knocks both Aang and Ty Lee off their feet.

"Appa!" Aang's face lights up as he greets his animal companion, then calms to a quiet smile as he says more softly: "Katara."

She alights from Appa's saddle to land before them. "I think they'll get the message to stay put," she tells them. "The soldiers are on their way and they'll process the prisoners."

"The land and sea invasion's been stopped, too?" Aang asks eagerly.

"Yup." Katara crosses her arms, looking pleased. "I think we can tell Zuko that the rebel invasion is officially over."

"Which is kind of weird," Ty Lee says brightly, "when you guys were doing the invading the last time around."

Katara and Aang both give her a withering look, but if anything the acrobatic fighter's grin grows even wider. "But that's all in the past." She holds out her arms. "Group hug?"

Without waiting for an invitation she throws herself at Aang, knocking him briefly off balance, and plants a quick peck on his cheek. "That's for saving my life up there," she whispers, round eyes sparkling with mischief while he gapes at her.

"Oh! That'll be the soldiers." She lets go of Aang to gaze down the slope landward from the cliff, where a great many footsteps and the clanking of machinery approach. "See you, Aang, Katara. Nice working with you!" With a last dazzling smile over her shoulder she promptly backflips onto her hands and walks away on them, whistling a jaunty little tune.

Katara watches the girl disappear down the slope, then raises an eyebrow at Aang. "It's cute when you blush with your whole head,"

"I'm not!" Aang holds his hands out in denial, or in defense.

"C'mon, Mr. Popular." Katara raises an arm almost lazily to melt the ice over the boarding ramp as the soldiers approach. "We've still got a lot of messes to mop up." She turns away toward Appa.

"Katara."

She starts to turn, the flat look in her eyes saying she is not nearly as nonchalant as she would like to appear. Aang's hands are on her shoulders and he pulls her almost roughly to him, pressing his lips to hers as he holds her in a possessive embrace. Her arms come up around him, and she has a slightly dazed, dreamy look on her face as he pulls back to look into her eyes.

"Thanks, Katara." He puts a tender hand to one brown cheek, lightly stroking her face.

"F-for what?" She blushes a little, smiling.

He grins back in answer, and she lets out a small gasp of surprise as he lifts her into his arms and jumps up in a whoosh of air onto Appa's saddle. He kisses her lips again, lightly, and calls, "Yip yip!"

The air bison's flat tail strikes the earth to lift them into the air, and as Aang and Katara fly away, leaning on each other and holding hands, he waves his free hand with his eyes on the ground. Ty Lee, walking upright now, waves back from earth and watches the white speck disappear in the distance.

"They're glowing pink all the way over there," she sighs in contentment. "How sweet!" She giggles up at the brightening sky, cartwheels, and skips down the path toward the military encampment. A warm breeze stirs her hair and clothes, heralding an approaching summer full of life and its infinite possibilities.

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><p><em>Next: Ty Lee apologizes for past wrongs and displays her sense of style in the process.<em>


	2. Appa: Bygones and Bisons

This one is with Appa. He's the one who made me realize that I couldn't make all the stories romantic. The romantic story will be with Momo. (And you think I'm joking...)

And I guess you've figured out the date system I'm using by now, with the seasons divided according to their elements and three months in each season. You can also tell that the stories are not in chronological order.

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><strong>2. Bygones<strong>

**First year of Firelord Zuko's reign, third moon of Fire** (late summer)

"...And I'm sorry we chased you all over the Earth Kingdom until you were exhausted," she said, finishing off the braid with a pink ribbon. "There! All pretty!"

Appa lowed a little sleepily, and shook his head at the unaccustomed feeling of his forelocks in a series of ribboned braids. He didn't shy away from Ty Lee's hands when she reached for him, though, and rested his head quietly on the ground as she stroked him.

"But you did airbend us into that river. So... we okay now?" Her eyes were uncharacteristically earnest as she looked into the air bison's eyes, her fingers twisting in her green skirt.

He just looked at her for a moment, no anger or fear in those huge, round eyes. Then he opened his mouth, and along with the distinctive animal smell a pink tongue as large as a bedspread rolled out to lick her from navel to face, leaving her soaked in a gleaming sheen of air bison saliva. He then let out a contented lowing sound as he lowered his head to the ground again.

"Oh, I'm so happy!" Heedless of the state of her dress and makeup, she instantly knelt to hug his face, then bent to kiss the tip of his nose. "We're going to be such great friends, Appa!"

A gasp sounded behind her and she whirled around, then cartwheeled across the grass to come stand right before the person who had just come out to the palace garden.

"Look, Sokka!" She said, taking his arm and pointing. "I got Appa ready for the parade!"

Aang, coming out of the building, almost ran into Sokka's back and then stopped, his mouth falling open.

"Isn't he pretty?" Ty Lee ran back to Appa to bury her face in the soft fur on his side. "We're friends now!"

"I _told_ you it wasn't safe to leave her alone with Appa!" Sokka clutched his face with both hands. "It's a plot... to humiliate the Avatar!"

"It's not as if being girly wasn't his schtick in the first place." Toph came up to stand alongside them and crossed her arms.

"But you can't see what she's done," Sokka said, suspicious.

"I can guess." A corner of Toph's lips curled up. "And it looks great!" She reached up to punch Aang in the side, making him stumble. "See you at the parade, Twinkle Toes!" She ran back to the palace, laughing.

"Do you think we can get the braids out before the parade starts?" Aang asked Sokka, eyeing Ty Lee nervously.

"Do you want to be the one to tell her we're getting the braids out?" Asked Sokka.

They stood watching Ty Lee lie on her stomach on top of Appa's head, stroking his head and giggling. Then they looked at each other.

The victory parade was considered a great success, showing the spirit and harmony of the four nations as they ended the war and began their march to peace. The Avatar walked next to the Firelord instead of flying on his famous air bison, a humble gesture that many noted with pleasant surprise.

The true spectacle of the parade was the Kiyoshi Warriors, however, who flew high above the crowd on the Avatar's air bison festooned with bright pink, and pastel tones of green, blue, and yellow. (But with a suspcious predominance of pink, which some commentators grumbled was a political statement in favor of the Fire Nation.)

One Kiyoshi warrior in particular drew the eyes of the crowd, doing handstands on the saddle, swinging precariously down only to flip herself back up, and sweeping perilously low overhead while she hung upside down from the reins, waving eagerly at the crowd. Her spirit seemed to be infectious, especially with the young men, and the mood was festive despite the hard rebuilding ahead.

It had been a good show, everyone agreed, if a little unorthodox. And why not? They were living in unorthodox times, where a Water Tribe bender could cheer on the festivities right alongside a former Fire Nation soldier. Better get used to a lot of things in this new age. And Aang and Sokka gave each other a high-five, the Avatar having dodged another crisis in these difficult times. They waved up at Ty Lee as she flew overhead on Appa, and could not find it in their hearts to be angry. They lived in a new age, after all.

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><p><em>Next: She speaks to a grieving father in a wash of moonlight.<em>


	3. Arnook: Condolences for a Chief

Ty Lee and Chief Arnook. Blame _Cirque du Soleil_ for this one.

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><p><strong>3. Condolences<strong>

**Year 2 of Firelord Zuko's reign, second moon of Water** (dead of winter)

The city lies cold and icy in the light of the moon. All is still, the intricate façades and terraces, the walkways and roofs all encased in the frozen blue-white radiance.

A warm puff of breath steams into the air; a figure stirs in the dark-blue shadow between the buildings, then walks into the moonlight to become a teenaged girl in a full skirt and overdress, a long fur-lined vest belted at the waist her concession to the weather. She walks up the bridge that arcs over the waterway, then stops at its height to lean against the railing and look up at the moon.

There is a calm delight in her round, wide-eyed face as she gazes up, as though she were seeing an old friend. The heavy face paint is somehow natural in this light, the cold glow and the deep shadows illuminating feelings and expressions real or imagined. Perhaps there is sadness in the girl's face as her mouth droops, or it is just the brightness of the moon on the white powder on her face. Perhaps she smiles as the corners of her eyes crinkle, or the dark paint on her eyelids is playing tricks with the moon-shadow.

She looks up at the moon as though meeting someone's eye, and nods confidently to herself. Without warning she whips around, and suddenly there is a fan in her hand as she spins. A flick of her hand and the fan falls open, warm and bright like a flame against the ice. She spins, sweeping the fan high, then stops and takes slow, measured steps along the length of the bridge with the fan covering her lowered face. Suddenly she stands up straight and arches her back, throwing her arms up to launch the fan high into the air, flame-yellow spinning against the moonlit sky.

Quick as thought she tumbles backward, and somehow there is a second fan in her hand that she tosses into the air as she rolls. She straightens to a crouch and raises her hand just in time to catch the first thrown fan. Then she takes a flying tumble forward to catch the second fan as it spins back to earth, folding and kicking the first fan into the air in one smooth motion. Back and forth over the bridge they fly, twin yellow arcs across the face of the moon, two butterflies in adoration of the pure silver blossom in the sky.

Then the fans are in the air at the same time, and she leaps to snatch them both out of the air. She is spinning as she lands, whirling around and around with the fans closing and opening in a dizzying kaleidoscope of motion. Faster and faster she turns, a thrown fan spinning into air and hovering there for the briefest of moments, as though mimicking the dance down below, then twirling back to earth with almost lazy grace. Caught by an expert hand that never misses a beat despite the frantic pace, thrown again and again, the two alternating in the air. Her laughter is breathless not from exertion but from joy, the kind of sharp, stabbing sense of life that lives only on the knife's-edge of pain.

She catches one fan, then the other and leaps, flipping over in the air to land on one hand on the railing of the bridge. Her other hand is out to the side and holding both fans open. With a twinkle they are gone and she arches back to flip to her feet, then flips more and more rapidly along the hand's-span of the railing. When she reaches the other side she jumps, spinning twice before landing on the opposite railing on her hands. Holding the railing, she swings down toward the water as though to fall in, then whips her legs back up. Her knees are to her chest for the briefest of moments, coiled to spring, before her arms bend and then heave away from the railing to launch her into the air.

Back and forth between the two railings she leaps quicker and quicker, until she whips out the fans again and leaps high into the air, fans held out as though she would fly into the sky on delicate yellow wings. Her mouth opens wide in an excited grin, and the moon fills her eyes with its calm silver glow.

Arcing down to the opposite railing seems a choice, not due to something so vulgar as gravity. She lands at the apex of the railing with the one fan over her face and the other held out to the left, left leg bent and the right straight out to her side along the length of the railing. Moonlight washes over her in gold and silver, and her smile is just as brilliant as she looks up.

She then leaps lightly off the railing and flicks her fans closed. "You can come out now," she calls to a sparkling statue of ice at the edge of the waterway, tucking her fans back into her sleeves. "Your aura is so sad and blue," she continues, her brows furrowing in concern as she walks down the slope of the bridge. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I believe you already did, Warrior Ty Lee." The man's voice is gentle and slightly rough with emotion as he steps out from behind the sculpture, his eyes strikingly blue under the moon.

"Chief Arnook." Ty Lee's round eyes go rounder. She automatically fists her right hand, resting the heel of her straightened left hand on the knucles of the right - then remembers herself and hurriedly curls her left hand into a fist, wrapping her right hand around it before she bows.

"The Fire Nation salute is fine." Arnook waves a hand, nodding in acknowledgment of her greeting. "Forgive me for not declaring myself. I did not want to interrupt." The weight of sorrow is heavy in his eyes as he looks up at the moon.

"I couldn't sleep," says Ty Lee in a small voice. "I- dreamed..."

"Of a girl on the moon, alone," says Arnook, startling her. "So did I," he sighs. "It happened last winter as well, after..." His throat works as he swallows.

"After the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe became the new moon spirit," Ty Lee says suddenly, making the connection. "Your daughter?" She covers her mouth with both hands, her eyes starting to glisten.

The Chief looks down. "Yes," he says at last. "My only child, Yue."

"I'm sorry." Ty Lee lowers her hands and takes a step toward him, hovering uncertain and unhappy. "I'm so sorry."

"Thank you," the chief says heavily, lifting his eyes to hers. "That is kind of you."

But Ty Lee's lips tremble as the brightness in her eyes overflows, smearing the kohl around her eyes. "I'm so, so sorry..." She drops her face into her hands, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. "I'm..."

Something changes in Arnook's face then, his eyes widening briefly as he realizes Ty Lee is offering more than her condolences. Then his face relaxes, and he places a hand on her shoulder. "It isn't your fault,"

"How can you forgive us?" She takes his hand in both hers with a force that makes him wince. Her face paint smudges and runs while she cries like a child, without shame or pretense. "How can you stand to _look_ at one of us?" She hangs her head and tries to stifle her sobs, making choked, pained sounds as she struggles.

"It... isn't easy," he admits, his other hand coming up to hold her shoulder in a steadying grip. "I try to tell myself it was her destiny. I try not to sully her sacrifice with hate. But I am only human."

"Then how-" she looks up, tears and makeup and nose running to make her face formless in this night, a blob of misery. Arnook grimaces a little and rummages in the pocket of his fur-lined parka with a father's reflexes. He pulls out a large square of cloth and presses it to her nose, which she proceeds to blow vigorously. She takes the cloth from him turns away to use the corners to dab at her eyes and face, leaving a somewhat striped effect.

"Because you danced for my daughter."

She turns to him with wonder in her eyes while he lifts his gaze to the moon. To Yue. "Because you wept for her, and asked forgiveness for crimes not your own." He looks from the heavens down to earth, from the serene silver of the moon to the streaked face of the daughter of former enemies. "Thank you." His voice is quiet. "I think I can live now without hatred."

Ty Lee's eyes well up again as she runs to him and wraps her arms tight around him. He reciprocates after a startled moment, gently patting her back at her broken whispers of gratitude. The moon spills her light in silver and gold over them like a blessing, lighting the silent and frozen streets with her sorrow, her loneliness, and her joy.

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><p><em>Next: She can't control her anymore, and somehow that makes it all the worse. Damn me, this is supposed to be a light-hearted and fun series!<em>


	4. Azula: Devotion for the Deposed

It lives! Sorry for the delay, everyone. This one was written and beta-read ages ago, but I was dithering pretty badly. I'm at that awkward place where I hate everything I write, but I guess the only way to get over that is to write.

This is the one you've (well, I've) been waiting for, Ty Lee and Azula. Some romantic implications, if you squint. "Kittiwings" is totally stolen from Kimberly T.'s review to _The Alternative. _There is a small reference to that story here, too.

By the way, I'm not making any general advocacy here about the treatment of mental illness, a subject I am thoroughly unqualified to speak about. This is about the specific characters depicted here, nothing more.

I can't thank my beta Amy Raine enough for her thoughtful and skilled comments and edits. Enjoy, and thanks so much for your reviews—they are much appreciated!

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><p><strong>4. Devotion<strong>

**Year One of Firelord Zuko's reign, first moon of Air**

She stumbled as she walked through the doorway, as though she had tripped on the threshold. But she never tripped, and there was no threshold at the door. An uncaring cold seemed to waft from the floors and walls, the bare stone singed in places and stark without color or softness. There were no curtains on the barred windows and no carpet on the floor, and even the bare, partly burnt pallet on the floor had no blanket. A set of chains and manacles, two higher up for the arms, two lower for legs, hung empty on one wall; she shivered at the sight of them.

The visitor's gaze then settled almost unwillingly on the figure crouched in the far corner, the stringy black hair that hung down to obscure a pale and wasted face, the fine bones jutting against skin that looked translucent against the maroon of her simple tunic and pants. The liquid amber madness of her eyes peered furtively through her hair, recognizing nothing and no one. They were the eyes of a hurt and hunted animal turned inward on its own torment, upon a nightmare landscape of never-ending pain.

"How..." The visitor's light grey eyes had gone almost black, her pupils dilated from shock. She pressed two fingers to her lips as though to keep something from escaping. For a few moments she squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them wide and fixed them on the patient in the corner, not allowing herself to look away.

"Azula..." Her trembling call was not to the ruined form that occupied the room, but to a memory so recent, yet nearly unimaginable in its distance.. The patient showed no sign of recognizing her own name, just bared her teeth in confused aggression and shrank further away into her corner.

"I tried to tell you, Ty Lee." The long and solemn face of the young woman behind her seemed to float by itself in the dim light of the hallway, above rich but austere clothes and framed by straight, glossy hair. Yao Mai, the Firelord's intended, looked grimly on the specter of the deposed Princess Azula. "It's pretty bad."

"Why doesn't she have any bedsheets?" Ty Lee's voice faltered as she took another step into the bare room, her gaze darting furtively to the pallet and then the chains on the wall before she looked away in horror. .

"She burns them," said a guard who had come with them. He paused and added almost apologetically, with a sideways look at Mai's stony face: "This is one of her quieter days, so we're not using the restraints. His Majesty prefers her to be comfortable whenever possible." Mai did not look mollified, and her fine dark brows furrowed in concern or fear as she looked upon Lee closed her eyes against the answer, against the bare cold room and the reality of the mad figure crouched in the corner. She reopened them and knelt slowly down to Azula's level, her eyes yearning and sorrowful, a shaky smile on her lips.

"Azula," she called again, holding out a hand. "Princess Azula. It's Ty Lee. Remember?"

Azula held out a hand as if in warning, but in a firebender it was much more than a warning. Even in one that had lost her senses. Maybe _especially _in one that had lost her senses. Mai stepped into the room, a throwing knife instantly in her hand, while the guard tensed and prepared to spring into action.

"No, Mai." Ty Lee held up a hand, still on her knees facing Azula. "I need you both to leave," She turned to look up at her friend, her gaze pleading even as she kept watch on Azula out of the corner of her eye. "Could you... wait at the end of the hallway?" she asked, hesitant."At the steel gate. I want to talk to her alone." Another pause, then she added more quietly: "I need to."

"No," Mai's voice broke briefly. "You didn't see her rampage when Zuko was here."

"I can handle myself," said Ty Lee, her smile tense. "Remember Boiling Rock?" Her voice was forlorn as she looked again at Azula. "Just... just go. Please."

Mai gave Azula a hard look; in the meantime the princess dropped her hand, breathing hard as though even that small gesture had been too much for her. Mai's throat and lips worked as though to say something, and then her eyes flicked to Ty Lee. Mai's fists clenched briefly, then relaxed as she let out an inaudible sigh. She turned to the guard and said curtly: "Let's go."

"Impossible! The regulations don't allow-" the guard spluttered.

"If anyone can handle Azula, it's her." Mai stalked out of the room, all but pushing the man out before her with her presence.

Mai was just outside the door when Ty Lee's voice stopped her. "Mai." Ty Lee's back was to her friend as she spoke. "Did we do this to her?"

"No." Mai answered at once, her voice cold. But her eyes, unseen by her friend, softened in the dim light of the hallway. "She did it to herself." The door closed behind her with cold finality, and the metallic clang of its many locks echoed in the hollow hall.

Ty Lee listened to the footsteps recede before she spoke.

"Are you happy now?"

Her voice was low, almost a whisper, but there was a sharpness there that wasn't there before.

"Was this what it was all for, all that scheming, the manipulation, the lying?"

Azula glowered and made a low growling sound, not meeting Ty Lee's gaze.

"You don't like it." Ty Lee's lips twisted. "Well, how are you going to scare me now, Azula? Set my net on fire again?" She stood and approached a few paces before crouching again to eye level. "But I'm not using a safety net. Not with you."

Azula's breathing quickened as her eyes darted from side to side, looking for an escape. Her eyes were livid, the bloodshot whites showing around the yellow irises.

"Say something!" Azula flinched when Ty Lee raised her voice. "Was this your grand plan? Hiding away from your failure, because Princess Azula is so perfect?" Ty Lee pressed her lips together in an angry line. "Hiding where no one will ever find you again?"

The princess's breath came shallower and quicker; she moved suddenly, trying to bolt out of the way. Ty Lee's eyes narrowed in anger, and she grasped Azula's shoulders before the princess could move away.

"Don't you run from me, Azula." Ty Lee growled in Azula's face, giving her no room to escape, her clear eyes in Azula's clouded ones. "Answer me!"

Azula's answer was fire, drawing her hands to herself and pushing them forward with a roaring jet of blue flame. Ty Lee instantly released Azula and bent back almost double, letting the fire pass over her stomach. She somersaulted backward and sprang to her feet, facing Azula who stood half crouched and ready for a fight, , her training intact after so much was gone.

Azula fired another blast, which Ty Lee sidestepped. As she did so she darted _toward _Azula instead of away, closing fast. Azula's eyes widened, her hair flying as she sent another burst of fire, trying to repel Ty Lee. But the acrobat was no longer there by the time the blue fire left a singe mark where she had stood.

Too late, Azula looked up to see Ty Lee spinning through the air. The princess held out two fingers shooting blue sparks, but before she could let loose Ty Lee had landed before her, eyes intent, and grabbed her wrists. Azula was slammed back against the wall, arms spread and wrists pinned on either side in Ty Lee's grip.

Azula struggled and strained, a length of chain on the wall rattling as her hand brushed against it, but could not break away. Unable to get into firebending form, her breaths coming in dry sobs and snarls of rage, she took a deep breath The cold air grew even colder as she sucked the warmth from it, and a tangible pressure built up in the air.

Ty Lee did not budge, her face inches from Azula's. "Do it," she said, her eyes filling with angry tears as she set her mouth.

Azula opened her mouth, the heat almost unbearable—then her eyes grew suddenly alert as they met Ty Lee's. She snapped her head to the side as the fire came; a torrent of blue flames shot out, striking the bare floor and dying out to leave behind a black burnt mark.

The princess coughed dryly, smoke coming out of her mouth. She went limp and her legs buckled; Ty Lee quickly let go of her wrists and supported her as she slumped, easing her thin form down to sit against the wall.

"Ty... Lee?" Azula's voice came out hoarse from disuse, and at the sound of it Ty Lee's face lit up even as she blinked back tears. She nodded wordlessly, taking Azula's hand and gripping it tight.

"Why..." her voice cracking, the princess's head lolled back against the wall as she panted in exertion. Her hand tightened convulsively around Ty Lee's.

"I don't know," said Ty Lee, belatedly starting to tremble. "But I'm here. And I'm not going away." She squeezed Azula's hand back.

Azula snorted and smiled the old sardonic smile, as though she had never heard anything so preposterous. She tried to laugh but coughed again, and her eyelids drooped; she was sound asleep by the time the guards and Mai burst in. Ty Lee put a finger to her lips at Mai's implacable face and the weapons of the guards, then turned back to Azula to watch her in her first untroubled and dreamless slumber since her madness.

* * *

><p><strong>Year One of Firelord Zuko's reign, second moon of Air<strong>

Mai watched, her amusement visible in the way a corner of her lips quirked up, as a mountain of pastel-colored sheets on legs struggled down the hall toward her. "You need some help with that?" she called.

"Mai!" Ty Lee's voice chirped out from behind the pile. "I'm just trying to get these to the hospital."

"That," said Mai, "or you're going into the fabric retail business." She took the top half of the pile, revealing Ty Lee's beaming face. Guards approached, ready to take the burden from her, but the Firelord's betrothed waved them away. The guards followed at a distance as Mai and Ty Lee walked together down the hall, each carrying a pile of sheets.

"Well, they said she burns them," Ty Lee said matter-of-factly. "I wanted to keep some spares around, in storage."

"The hospital has plenty of sheets, Ty Lee," said Mai, looking down with some distaste at the turtleducklings on the pink top sheet of her pile.

"But they're so drab!" Ty Lee giggled. "She should have something cheerful. And who can stay sad with turtleduckies and kittiwings keeping you warm?" She rubbed her face against a soft sheet, where multicolored winged kittens frolicked together against a sky-blue background.

"I don't think she has such a good history with turtleducks _or _wingcats." Mai shrugged, shifting the sheets in her arms. "Your call. Zuko said you can do what you want... within reason."

"So he'll be okay with the stylist? And makeup?" Ty Lee's eyes sparkled in anticipation.

"I guess that's within reason." Mai looked straight ahead as she walked. "Honestly, the color of her rouge is going to be the last thing on her mind."

"It's about normalcy," said Ty Lee. "I mean, just look at that room." She shuddered, and her eyes darkened though she spoke lightly. "I think _I _would go crazy in there."

Mai snorted, withholding comment on that. Her expression turned more serious as they approached the exit at the end of the hall. "You don't have to do this," she said in a lower voice. "She has no hold over you anymore."

"I know." Ty Lee's gaze was level over the wingkittens. "I want to."

"Do you?" asked Mai, her face neutral as they emerged from a side entrance into the morning sun. An attendant took the sheets she carried to load them for the trip to the hospital, and she turned to Ty Lee who had been similarly unburdened. "Or does it just feel right to hover around her, because it's what she made you do?"

"I could ask you the same thing," said Ty Lee, a smile on her face and a challenge in her eyes. "Azula always encouraged you to get closer to her brother, and now you're going to marry him. Do you ever wonder about that?"

Mai was silent at that, but the look in her eyes was answer enough. "Don't expect too much," she said instead. "Zuko might be desperate for her to get better, but she has a long way to go—if she ever gets there."

"Aw, thanks. I know that." Ty Lee gave her friend a quick hug, and drew back to look into her eyes. "But you know me. Never say never, right?"

"I know you," Mai agreed quietly.

A servant came up to inform them that they were ready to go; Ty Lee waved to Mai and leapt lightly into the waiting carriage overflowing with blankets and clothes and flowers. Mai watched her go, waving without expression.

"And if she does get better?" she murmured. "What then, Ty?"

* * *

><p>"Can you believe it?" Ty Lee worked the nail file, blowing on her friend's nails to clear the dust. "After stringing him along for all those months, she totally went out with Pi Yen instead!"<p>

Azula submitted to the grooming and the gossip without comment, showing no interest or sign of recognition. She had not shown much improvement since that one short moment the month before, though her fits of rage seemed less frequent since Ty Lee's visits. The chains on the wall, unused since the first visit, hung awkwardly next to paintings and wall hangings of beaches at sunset and gardens blooming in a riot of color. Curtains moved in the wind at the barred window, the soft pink of the fabric softening the glare of the sun, and bright rugs covered the stone floor. On the bedsheet laid over the pallet wingkittens batted at air and tumbled and dozed against a pale blue background, floating eternally in a cloudless summer sky.

After finishing up on Azula's nails, Ty Lee moved behind her to start on the princess's hair, freshly cut to shoulder-length and styled in the latest fashion. (The frightened stylist had taken her pay and was long gone from the hospital.) Ty Lee brushed back the dark locks, shining and sleek from a recent wash.

"I'm going to be leaving soon," she told Azula after a few moments of silence. "To Kiyoshi island. There's a lot to do, even though the war's over. Especially since the war's over." Her hands faltered for a few moments as she stared into space, then resumed the brisk, yet gentle brushing.

"But I'll be back before you know it—erm, especially since you don't seem to know much these days." She tittered awkwardly. "That was a joke." She put down the brush and moved swiftly in front of Azula, taking her hands. The princess flinched, but did not break the contact.

"I'll be back really soon, Azula," said Ty Lee, her grey eyes meeting Azula's gold. "And we'll paint our toenails, and talk really late at night—or I will—and I'll give you all the Earth Kingdom news that's fit to share."

Silence followed her words as Azula looked warily at Ty Lee, her hands slack in the other girl's grip and her eyes showing no sign that she understood the words or knew who this person was. In that blank yet hostile gaze something crumpled in Ty Lee's face, and she leaned forward to gather Azula into her arms.

"I wish you'd speak to me again, Azula." Ty Lee's voice broke. "I know Mai thinks I'm crazy but I keep thinking you'll come back to us, and- I don't know where you've gone and it hurts to think how lost you are." She tightened her arms around Azula's unresisting form.

Then Ty Lee stiffened and went very still: Azula had moved slightly, even imperceptibly, and one thin hand came up to rest on Ty Lee's back. Azula patted Ty Lee once, twice, then her hand fell slack and her eyes lost focus as she gazed disinterested around the room.

Ty Lee smiled, though her eyes were sad, and she slowly released Azula. She looked searchingly at the Princess but found no sign, no spark there. "See you again, Azula," she whispered, reaching out to stroke the Princess's hair from her face. Then she lowered her gaze and went to the door. With one look back at Azula she left, unaware that the Princess's gaze lingered on the door for a long time.

* * *

><p>"Do you think it's revenge?" Mai asked on one of Ty Lee's return visits, as she helped her friend fold linens to take back to the hospital. "What you're doing?"<p>

"Why would you say that?" Ty Lee asked in round-eyed innocence, setting aside a neatly folded sheet embroidered with fire lilies.

"You get to decide what sheets she sleeps in." Mai waved a hand at the stack. "You decide when to cut her hair, and how. You choose the color of her nails, and the décor in her room." She smoothed a hand down the sheet she just folded. "She used to dictate your life. Now you do the same to her."

"That's actually kind of neat," giggled Ty Lee. "Maybe you're right—this is the best revenge ever!"

Mai rolled her eyes and set her sheet on top of the growing pile. She watched Ty Lee bend down to count the sheets.

"Hey."

"Hmm?" Ty Lee sounded distracted, her fingers moving down the stack, counting under her breath.

"I won't hesitate." Mai ducked her head to look studiously down at the blanket in her lap, her fingers working at a crease to straighten it. "If she becomes a threat to Zuko, I'm not holding back."

They looked up at the same time, their eyes meeting for a moment. Then Ty Lee lunged forward to engulf Mai in a hug. "I know," she said, closing her eyes in contentment. "I think that's why I can do this."

Mai's eyes widened, and then the tension left her as she smiled in amusement and resignation. "Yeah, yeah." She patted Ty Lee on the back and put an arm around her briefly as she let out a small, happy sigh. "Now let's get back to work before we both start bawling."

"Yes, your Highness, ma'am!" Ty Lee straightened and took up another sheet to shake it out, while Mai added hers to the pile of folded sheets. Outside the afternoon was bright and warm, like a blessing.

* * *

><p><em><em>Next: It may be the happiest ending they can have, or deserve.<em>_


	5. Azula: Ever After in Ephemeral Affection

Note: It's back! This one gets unambiguously slashy (girl on girl) at one point. You have been warned. It is within the bounds of the T rating, though. Not beta-read, so again, lots of criticism please. :)

Note on hemispheres and polar regions: While writing this story I realized how Northern Hemisphere-centric my sense of the calendar and the seasons are. I forgot that the seasons are reversed in the South, and assigned the seasons (Water, Earth, etc.) based on the North. To any Aussies or Kiwis out there, I extend apologies for my hemispherism.

Unfortunately I'm just going to have to compound my North-centrism by perpetuating the view in my fics, because the northern hemisphere of the Avatar world still seems to be more populous than the southern. Ba Sing Se is in the northern half, as is the North Pole, and the Fire Nation is on the equator.

Hence, the reference to the Southern Water Tribe guiding the moon back during the (northern) winter equinox, since the South Pole at this time would be in summer and perpetual day. I can pretend this is true of the Avatar world because the South Pole scenes in the show were all in daylight, even though the North Pole had both day and night. I'm avoiding the latter issue by showing only nighttime in any North Pole scenes that take place in the Water (winter) months.

* * *

>Everybody Loves Ty Lee 5. Ever After<hr>

**Year 2 of Firelord Zuko's reign, second moon of Water**

Her feet did not touch the pool. She floated a hand's-breadth above the water, her hair loose and floating about her though the air did not move. Around her was grass, and flowers, and beyond that a vast expanse of night sky studded with starlight.

She was looking about, her face open in wonder instead of tensed in fear, when a silver light wove into the night. She looked down, and the pool filled with cool radiance until she shielded her eyes, unable to look at it.

The night returned as the unbearable light faded. She lowered her hand, and her mouth opened at the sight of the moon that filled the sky in its planes of white and shades of grey, the light that spread across the sky in an eternal calm.

And before the moon stood a human form, or at least a human-looking form the being had chosen for mortal minds to comprehend Her. The pale hair fluttered and spread out through the sky like the moonlight itself, and her robes flowed on a current none could feel. The look in her downcast eyes might be one of sadness or compassion, from one who saw so much on her journeys through a world of night.

Floating above her pool, the mortal's jaws worked for a few moments without words. When the spirit met her eyes she tilted her head to hear though there was no sound. "Yes." She nodded. "Yes, I am Ty Lee of the Kiyoshi Warriors."

The spirit smiled, and the brightness came to Ty Lee's face as the sea reflects the moon. "Lady Yue," she breathed. "Yue, Lady of the Moon?"

Yue nodded once, gathering her hands before her. Eyes still curving in a smile, she inclined her head to Ty Lee.

"It was nothing!" Ty Lee scrambled to bow. "It was all I could do." The pride broke through the sadness in her voice. "I'm so happy you liked it. And your father is such a nice man."

Something shifted in the air as though the wind changed, though there was none. The spirit held out a hand at Ty Lee, the palm held up.

"Go... home?" Ty Lee concentrated. "Within, before, the winter solstice?"

Ty Lee's eyes widened. "Azula?" She reached out to the spirit, who was fading along with the tableau of night sky. "What's going to happen to Azula on the winter solstice? Yue!"

Yue was gone and Ty Lee fell, shattering through the surface of the pool. But there was no water, and she dropped through darkness with no stars and no moon to light it.

Warrior Ty Lee sat up with a gasp in her room in the North Pole, her eyes blank. In degrees she returned to her surroundings, the walls of ice, the folded green uniform by her side, the furs that had slid halfway from her. The full moon outside her window was a sliver above the sea. She rose, letting the furs slide away, and stood shivering in the blue tint of the air.

"Solstice." Her eyes were on the horizon where the moon lurked just below, another move in its complex dance with the hidden sun.

* * *

><p><strong>Year 2 of Firelord Zuko's reign, second moon of Water (Winter Solstice)<strong>

She was at the window when the moon rose. Outside it was quiet; winter solstice was a night of contemplation, a time to light candles and pray for the return of the sun. On the Poles a full celebration would be unfolding, the Northern Water Tribe under the moon thanking her for the bounty of the sea, the Southern Water Tribe singing songs to guide her back to them.

Ty Lee lit her own red candle in a silver holder carved with the moon through its cycle, though her countrymen might count it bad luck to invoke silver and the moon on this night instead of the golden light of the sun. She placed the candle on the windowsill and turned to the room.

"The moon is so bright tonight."

The figure curled on the bed didn't answer. Ty Lee went and sat down next to her.

"Azula." The princess did not move, nor did she acknowledge her. Her hair, grown past her thin shoulders, ranged over her pink pillow in a halo of darkness.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen tonight." Ty Lee tucked strands of Azula's hair behind her ear, uncovering dulled amber eyes. "That night I danced for her, Yue said something about you and the Winter Solstice. I'm not sure what, but no matter what happens," Ty Lee bent over Azula, her hand trailing over the pillow down the strands of black, "good or bad, I'm going to be here with you, okay?"

Ty Lee took hold of Azula's hand and lay down next to her. She watched the rising moon in the long breath of the night, the silvery circles floating in her eyes until her eyelids drooped, and closed.

* * *

><p>"Ty Lee."<p>

She stirred and turned over with her eyes still closed, a little drool trailing from her grin. "No, 'sokay, Haru." Her words slurred in sleep. "'m not cold..."

"Ty Lee. Wake up."

She did so, blink by blink, until her eyes focused on the pale oval of the face between the drapes of dark hair. The eyes that met Ty Lee's refracted the moonlight in tiny gold sparks, and regarded the world with suspicion and intelligence.

Ty Lee raised herself on an elbow. "Am I dreaming?"

"That's what I'd like to ask." Azula gazed around the room, taking in a painting of Kiyoshi warriors, a tapestry depicting water dancers, a portrait of an Air Nomad monk, a statuette of an air bison on a cabinet of dark wood inlaid with red and yellow stones. "Where am I? It looks like a junkyard for the entire world."

"Azula." Ty Lee sat up and held onto Azula's arms as if she might float away. "Is that really you?"

"Of course it's really me." Azula pushed her away and stood. "What happened? The last thing I remember..." she put a hand to her head as if in pain. She turned to Ty Lee, the light of her eyes cutting through the night. "What day is this? What," she faltered, "what year?"

"Winter Solstice, Zuko Year Two." Ty Lee's answer was automatic, her eyes never leaving Azula's face.

"_Zuko?_" Azula slammed a knee into the mattress and grabbed Ty Lee's shoulders, making her wince. "Year _two?_"

"It is you." Ty Lee reached for Azula's wrist and held it, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. "You're finally yourself again! Oh, I'm so-"

"Be silent." Azula pushed Ty Lee off, leaving her sprawled on the mattress in shock. Azula paced the room, muttering to herself. "Two years." The cabinet tilted when she leaned on it in thought, toppling several statuettes and trinkets. "Two years since Zuko took the throne."

"Year and a half, actually." Ty Lee cringed when a bracelet of clear green stones clunked to the floor. "He took the throne in summer. After..." her shoulders tensed, "the Agni Kai."

"And I've been doing what, since that joyous occasion?" Azula's lips twisted, her teeth glittering in the white light. "My memories stop with the Agni Kai."

"You were really, really sick, Azula." Ty Lee rose from the bed and approached Azula step by cautious step. "They kept you in this hospital. The doctors said your mind was on fire." Her giggle grated and died in her throat. "Whatever that means."

"And my father?"

Ty Lee gulped. "I... I don't think you should be getting all this at once." She headed for the door. "I'll get a doctor. And Zuko should know, and Mai-"

"Stop." Azula reached between Ty Lee and the door without looking at her, a blue flame blazing from her hand. Ty Lee stumbled back from it, her eyes white in the moon.

"I think I remember now." Azula put her other hand to her brow, frowning. "Yes, I heard the doctors talking. He's in prison, isn't he, with his firebending torn from him." She lowered her hands, the silver light flooding back in as the fire faded.

"I'm sorry, Azula." Ty Lee hung her head. "But I think it had to happen this way." She looked up and met Azula's eyes.

"It had to happen." Azula looked away with a rueful smile. Her eyes flashed as she faced Ty Lee. "So the rightful king had to be deposed and linger in a state worse than death?" Azula took a step toward Ty Lee. "A weakling puppet had to sit the throne, mocking the glory of the Fire Nation?"

Ty Lee shrank back from her anger even as Azula closed on her. "That's not the way it is! The world is peaceful-"

"There is no peace." Azula closed the distance as Ty Lee backed into a wall. "This isn't peace, it's death." Azula's hands closed on Ty Lee's shoulders. "Our Nation," she said, "is rotting."

"No." Ty Lee shook her head, her eyes huge in her face. "It's not! And if you could just open your eyes and see-"

Azula leaned across the space between them and caught Ty Lee's lips in hers, burning her words away in the heat of the kiss. Ty Lee's hand reached for her, whether to push her away or pull her closer; Azula took it and pressed it to the wall, their fingers locking together.

Azula drew back an inch, her lips brushing Ty Lee's. "I remember." Her words vibrated between them. "You wouldn't let me slip away. You came back, just like you promised."

Ty Lee's eyes fluttered open in shock. Azula's lips curved in a smile as she brought it to Ty Lee's ear. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You remembered." Ty Lee clung to her, closing her eyes in a moment of bliss. "You're really back!"

"I'm really back." Azula stroked her hair as she held her close. "Really and truly." Her eyes glinted gold over Ty Lee's shoulder.

"So... what happens now?" Ty Lee pulled back to look into Azula's face, her gaze wavering for a second. "The doctors will know, and Zuko."

"Eventually." Azula patted her shoulder, her thoughts elsewhere. She swayed in place, and Ty Lee caught her. "I'm so tired..."

"It's all this time you've spent in this room." Ty Lee helped her to the bed, where Azula collapsed onto the sheets and pillows. "You'll need to get your strength back." Ty Lee pulled a blanket with a fire-lily pattern over Azula, and held her hand.

"I can trust you, right?" Azula brought Ty Lee's hand to her face, and touched her lips to it before tucking it under her cheek. "You'll be faithful, this time?"

"Always." Ty Lee smoothed Azula's hair with her other hand, gazing down at her profile shining in the moonlight. "I'd do anything for you."

As Azula's face grew limp and peaceful Ty Lee looked up at the moon rising high outside the window, its touch soft on the tears in her eyes. "My Princess, so alone..."

* * *

><p>She was back floating over water with silvery light pooling in its depths. The moon filled the sky, and before it the moon spirit with such sorrow in her eyes.<p>

"It was you, wasn't it." The words were only half accusation. "Winter Solstice, when the sway of water is strongest over the world. Enough to put out fires in the mind." The sadness in Yue's face grew deeper.

"I should have known she wouldn't change." Ty Lee looked away. "I shouldn't be mad at you. You couldn't know. You just wanted to grant me the one thing I wanted."

She turned back to Yue, opening her arms. "Thank you, Moon Spirit." She bowed. "It was good to talk to her again. To see and..." Her cheekbones tinted a shade of shell pink. "Thank you."

For a time they gazed at each other across the night. Ty Lee took a deep breath.

"I don't know if it's only for this night, or if you can keep her this way. And I don't want to know." She squeezed her eyes shut. "But... whether because Solstice passes, or... or, because you choose to take this gift away..." She bowed her head and a tear dropped onto the surface of the pool, sparkling in the water before dissolving. "I'll understand."

The moonlight grew brighter, surrounding her. Ty Lee looked up to the sight of Yue an arm's length before her, floating with her over the pool of light.

"Why?" Ty Lee sniffled and wiped her nose. "Because I'd do anything for her." Her friends would not have recognized the bitter laugh as hers. "I can't help her destroy the world Aang and Zuko and everyone built." She paused. "But she'll burn that out of me. Her fire is too much."

Yue lifted her hands and cupped Ty Lee's face. Her look, when Ty Lee met her eyes, was one of understanding.

"Why can't I hate her?" Ty Lee struggled with herself as the tears came again. "Am I that stupid?"

Yue shook her head, closing the ocean brilliance of her eyes. They stood there suspended in timeless time, while the mortal soul fought the tides of longing it could neither control nor understand.

* * *

><p>Mai found her among the rubble, two broken pieces of an Avatar Kyoshi statuette in her hands. She was trying to fit the singed bits together but they refused to lock together, something missing between them, some link or fragment.<p>

Mai looked around the wreckage of the room, the scene of Princess Azula's worst relapse to date. Ashes and fragments of memorabilia from around the world littered the place, some of them cheap souvenirs, others works of art. Mai's mouth drew down in a frown at a charred piece of a monk's smile.

"They took her down to the basement cells," she said to Ty Lee's back. "They told me cutting her off from the sun for a while will calm her."

"She's a firebender." Ty Lee let her hands fall to the floor, letting the pieces of Avatar Kiyoshi roll away. "It'll be agony for her."

"Yes, it will." Mai's eyes narrowed at Ty Lee's singed and torn clothes, when she had escaped the room with her life seconds before it turned into a firestorm. "She'll have to deal."

"Will Azula be okay?" Ty Lee's voice was broken, like the smashed things around the room.

Mai sighed. "Maybe. The doctors think the end of Winter Solstice night could have had some kind of effect, but it didn't happen last time."

Ty Lee said nothing. Mai lifted her skirt over the debris and soot on the floor and bent down to take her arm. "Come on. Let's get you out of here."

"They don't want me back here, do they." Ty Lee leaned on her as she walked.

Mai gave her an unhappy look. "At least until she's stable, and they're sure having you here is safe."

"It's all right." Ty Lee looked ahead, her eyes clear over the bandage on her cheek. "It's for the best."

"Watch your step." Mai steered her away from smoldering bits of inlaid wood, the red stone still sparkling under the soot. "First you're taking a hot bath." She put an arm around Ty Lee's shoulders. "Then we'll get you something frilly and disgusting to wear."

"Can it be orange?" Ty Lee's smile almost reached her eyes.

"Why not, if you want to annoy me." They walked through the door together, leaving behind the destruction Azula had made with a kind of monomania.

Mai looked back once at the wasted room, and did not tell her friend the many good reasons she had to stay away from the hospital. Because as they took Azula belowground the princess had screamed out one name, raging and yearning for what had slipped from her grasp—"Ty Lee," over and over again.

* * *

><p><em>Next: She knows how tempting it is to follow the leader, wherever it may lead.<em>


End file.
